A question on Armed Forces recruitment...

Yours Truly | October 8, 2004 | Yours Truly

[El Conservador]

I'll be graduating with a BS in Civil Engineering next May, and one of the options I could be looking for employment would be to join any of the Armed Forces (Army, Navy or Air Force).

As I understand it, college graduates are recruited as CO's. But in order to join as a CO, you must be an US citizen.

I'm a legal permanent resident of the US, and I'll be eligible for US citizenship in September 2005.

What would be my situation should I apply to join a branch of service???

[RebelTex]

Welcome.

I read your home page and was impressed - 11 years is a long time to wait to gain legal entry to the US. You have my respect for doing it right (and for being conservative) ;^D

You can probably get your questions answered at the following websites:
http://www.navy.mil/
http://www.army.mil/
http://www.marines.mil/
http://www.af.mil/

and more info here:
http://www.navytimes.com/
http://www.airforcetimes.com/
http://www.armytimes.com/
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/

Good Luck

[DugwayDuke]

I'm a retired "CO". It appears you didn't take ROTC while in college so you cannot 'join' as an officer. As was pointed out up thread only certain professions dealing with the law, medicine, and religion can do that. Therefore, you'll have to enlist and then go to Officer Candidate School in order to get your commission. But, (and I'm not sure of the actual time line) it would take about three months for basic training as enlisted and then about six months for OCS. That doesn't line up too badly against your September 05 date.

With a civil engineering degree, you might wish to consider either the engineers in the Marines or the Army. These are the guys that build the roads, span the rivers, you know the military engineering equivalent of your degree. I think both services call them combat engineers. As the name implies, the do see combat. The Army also has the Corps of Engineers that do the dams and dredge rivers, etc.

The AF and Navy also would have use for your degree in things like building bases, etc.

Follow the advice of many on this thread, contact a recruiter and do your research on what service and field best matches your desires. Also, don't forget that all the services offer a lot of information on the web.

BTW, the National Guard is also an option.

Good luck.

[WildTurkey]

Google:us commissioned officers citizenship

http://www.yokwe.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=612&view=next

---

Foreigners in military eligible for citizenship

WASHINGTON — President Bush is offering a Fourth of July gift to 15,000 immigrants serving active duty in the U.S. military: immediate eligibility for citizenship.

The president was to announce his executive order, which he signed yesterday, during an Independence Day celebration honoring veterans in Ripley, W.Va.

"Our fine service men and women are fighting and winning the war on terror. They deserve the gratitude of all people who cherish freedom," Bush said in a formal holiday statement.

A White House paper outlining the change to immigration policy described it as a way to reward noncitizens serving on active duty in the military during the post-Sept. 11 war on terrorism. Citizenship, in turn, will improve the retention of military people by allowing them to advance their careers in the armed forces, the White House said.

While legal permanent residency is all that is required to enlist in the U.S. military, only citizens can be promoted to commissioned or warrant officers, or serve in special warfare programs such as the Navy SEALs.

Current rules allow immigrants enlisted in the armed forces to apply for naturalization after three years of service, as opposed to nonmilitary immigrants who must bank five years of legal residency before becoming eligible.

More than 31,000 noncitizens are serving on active duty — accounting for between 3 percent and 4 percent of America's total military personnel — with a little more than half already eligible for citizenship consideration. The rest, an estimated 15,000 men and women, have not yet completed their three-year wait. It is this group that would benefit from Bush's executive order eliminating any waiting period.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service will work with the Defense Department to set up processing facilities on military bases. Military applications will not be given head-of-the-line priority over nonmilitary naturalization applicants, an administration official said.

President Carter signed a similar executive order following the Vietnam War; President Clinton did the same after the Persian Gulf War.

[Ruth C]

You need to get the information from the military. Whatever is said here may or may not be correct, or may be correct and not have information on 'exceptions'. For example, you will graduate in May, and are eligible for citizenship in September, such circumstances should be presented to whichever branch you finally choose because based on the time frame they may have options not usually available.

ARMY
AIR FORCE
NAVY
MARINES

You might also try the reserve services. Perhaps you can enter there as a commissioned officer if you are within so many months of citizenship and move directly to active status on attaining it, or attain it quicker since you have joined?
Air National GuardArmy National Guard

Good Luck, and thank you for you willingness to serve!

[StayAt HomeMother]

Ditto on the Navy's Civil Engineer Corps. Check out the "Baccalaureate Degree Completion Program (BDCP): If you are a college student who is interested in becoming a naval officer when you graduate, you should apply for the Baccalaureate Degree Completion Program (BDCP). This program pays future naval officers a monthly salary while they are still attending college. Qualified technical majors can receive a salary of approximately $1,700 per month for up to 3 years prior to graduation and qualified non–technical majors can receive this salary for up to 2 years prior to graduation." [This web page does not address the citizenship question.]

http://www.navy.com/education/earnmoneyforcollege

[kemosabe]

Way to GO !

Continue your education, obtain your Masters, join the ARMY ReserveOfficerTrainingCommand at your University, obtain your US Citizenship, learn one more language well, then apply for US Army Special Forces Airborne, continue your education and earn your Doctorate...

The next best place to look is the US Marine Corps

Should neither of these interest you, look at the US Coast Guard or the US Air Force...promotion is very slow however no matter where you choose to volunteer you will only get back what you put into your enlistment...TANSTAFL

Try for 10th Special Forces Group...they do the most hard work for America

If you are macho and meaner that 100 JunkYard Dogs...GO NAVY SEAL !

Google your future...Good Luck Senor El Conservador and Welcome to the United Stated of America !

kemosabe said that!

[zzen01]

No 1 requirement to become an officer in ANY of the US Armed Forces is you have to be a US Citizen. Go enlisted and get the process accelerated. After 1 4 year enlistment with sustained, superior performance in all of your evaluations then you can apply to become a officer.

[No Longer Free State]

You must be a US Citizen (and only a US citizen) to be a comissioned officer.

I was born with dual citizenship and had to renounce the second country citizenship when I accepted my comission.

[Bogey78O]

There was a Morrocan and a Brazilian in my ROTC class. They'll help you get your citizenship f you give them the time.

[chudogg]

He can get OCS in his contract if he has a college degree.

[chudogg]

You can pretty much do anything in the Armed Forces as a non-citizen. Your only limitations are jobs that require a higher security clearance.

[chudogg]

Apparently everything else said here is contradicting what i said. Im not too familiar with Officer regs.

[DustyMoment]

I'm no expert, but I believe that with a Civil Engineering degree, even as a Concientious Objector, you could still join and accelerate your naturalization process, if that is your choice.

However, I have read stories about COs who found themselves with orders to battle zones and, as a Civil Engineer, you would be a prime selectee to help re-build Iraq or Afghanistan.

My advice is if you're not willing or prepared to follow orders and go into battle to defend this country, don't join. A military that is full of COs is not very beneficial in the event of all-out war. Given the current state of the WOT, we are not far from all-out war as it is.

Pick your poison carefully. Once you sign the contract, you belong tothe US government and they don't believe in "king's X".

[Cranky]

Go for the Marine Corps (and that is coming from a retired Air Force master sergeant). I told a Marine Staff Sergeant recruiter that if I could do it all over again I would rather spend three months at Parris Island than 6 weeks at Lackland AFB. The Marine Corps lives its history.

Thank you for wishing to serve our country and best wishes for your future success.

[Cranky]

Believe his reference to CO meant commissioned officer.

[chudogg]

Also, if you decide to go enlisted instead, you will join as an E-4. So you will skip being a lowly private (except in Basic, they will call you a private anyway).

One thing to consider is that Airforce and Navy are downsizing, and the military is trying to switch over Airforce and Navy personnel to the Army. Navy and Airforce also have terrible Officer to Enlisted ratios. So it might be easier to do what you want to do in the Army.

I don't believe that Officers have guarranteed Job placement, in other words they put you where they want you. I know in ROTC, cadets make a wish list and the Army goes down the list on whats available, i dont know what OCS does.

Enlisted Personnel however do have guarranteed job placement, at least in the Army. You get what job placement you want put in your contract, and 99% of the time they honor that, but if they do switch you, since its in your contract you can leave the Army.


Your best bet might be to get your masters degree and go ROTC. I believe you will have to go Basic Training if you only do ROTC for 2 years. But you can get an ROTC scholarship to cover your schooling.

[johniegrad]

A college degree doesn't translate into becoming an instant officer unless you are a doctor or a lawyer.

You can't become a doctor with a college degree.

[familyop]

I called an Air Force Academy office and some recruiters about that just a couple of days ago for a Briton. ...don't know whether or not you need to be a citizen to be an officer, but you must be a citizen before you become a pilot. Ask a recruiter.

You can either continue to get US citizenship the way you are doing it and enroll in an ROTC program at a university, or you can join the US military as an enlisted person and get your citizenship within about one year (faster than doing so as a civilian, for most).

IIRC, you must be younger than 23 years of age to enroll in the Air Force Academy (anyone correct me if I'm wrong on that). You must be less than 35 years of age to join the Army as an enlisted recruit and less than 32 years of age to start OCS (officer candidate school).

I'm not a recruiter. If a recruiter gives you some information, forget what I wrote and listen to him.

The phone listings for any US city of any size will contain telephone numbers for recruiters.

[familyop]

Ah, and BTW, as you know, any MOS (military occupational specialty) in the US Army (or any branch) is safe compared to being in Colombia at all. Losing one or two out of a force of well over 100,000 overseas is nothing, as you probably know.

Ask the recruiter, whether enlisted (phone directory) or ROTC (your nearest university with an ROTC program) about choosing what you want to do in the military. They will give you choices and guarantees, especially if you start as an enlisted (non-officer) and go through OCS.

But you know that any part of the military and any place will be safer and easier than being a civilian in Colombia.

[FreedomCalls]

A college degree doesn't translate into becoming an instant officer unless you are a doctor or a lawyer.

You can't become a doctor with a college degree.

But if you have a college degree and have finished medical (you are a doctor) school or have passed the bar exam (you are a lawyer) then you can join the service as a direct appointment to the commissioned officer corps WITHOUT passing through a Service Academy, a college ROTC program, or OCS. That's what he meant.